Carlos Brathwaite and Kemar Roach snapped up seven wickets between them as Windies eked out a 23-run win over Afghanistan in its last league game in Leeds. Earlier, West Indies began well with Shai Hope scoring a fine 77 but Afghanistan pegged the opponent back with wickets in the middle overs before Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder cut loose to propel the West Indies to 311/6.
In response, Afghanistan was on course when Ikram Ali Khil and Rahmat Shah were batting together. Both batsmen scored their respective fifties and the former was inching closer to his 100 when he was trapped in front by Gayle. That dismissal, in many ways, thwarted the Afghan surge and eventually handed Holder and Co. a win in their final World Cup 2019 match.
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Brathwaite has struck. He gets rid of Asghar Afghan, whose resistance comes to en end. Windies can now smell victory. AFG 244/7 after 44.2 overs.
Asghar Afghan is fighting a lone battle. He has moved to 40 off 30 balls with the help of four fours and a six. He has Rashid Khan for company. Meanwhile, Roach has bowled out. His figures today: 10-2-37-3. AFG 244/6 after 44 overs. Afghanistan need 68 runs in 36 balls.
Roach attack! His wicket-glut continues. Another three-wicket haul for Kemar Roach as Shinwari falls to a fine catch by Hetmyer. Rashid joins Asghar Afghan. AFG 227/6 after 41.4 overs.
Nabi holes out . Roach gets his second wicket; Fabian Allen making no mistake in the deep. Samiullah Shinwari comes to the crease.
Oh is that another wicket? Yes it is. Zadran has been run out and Afghanistan have lost two wickets suddenly. Gayle working his magic here. Asghar Afghan and Mohammad Nabi at the crease.
GONE ! Gayle, you just can't keep him out of the match, can you? Didn't star with the bat. But he has already taken a catch and now traps Ikram in front. Big moment in the match. The teenager was looking impressive. He reviews but replays show three reds. Meanwhile, Zadran has seamlessly blended power with grace in this little knock of his. AFG 189/3 after 35.3 overs
Najibullah Zadran and Ikram Ali Khil have added 21 off 27 balls. West Indies' sloppy fielding is helping the Afghan cause. Ali Khil, meanwhile, motoring towards his maiden ODI century. But the youngster needs his other team-mates to chip in. The Caribbean side could use a couple of wickets at this stage. AFG 164/2 after 31 overs.
GONE! Brathwaite gets the breakthrough and it's Chris Gayle, playing in his last World Cup match, takes a catch to dismiss Rahmat Shah . AFG 138/2 after 26.2 overs.
DROPPED ! Cottrell has grassed a sitter of Rahmat Shah. Mind you, this is the same Sheldon Cottrell who had taken a blinder against Australia earlier in the tournament. Anyway, Rahmat Shah gets a life.
Ali Khil, now, brings up his fifty. He collects two boundaries off Allen to raise his maiden One-Day International fifty. Ali Khil and Rahmat have now added 100 for the second wicket. Still a long way to go but Afghanistan is growing in confidence! AFG 116/1 after 22 overs.
Rahmat Shah brings up his fifty. This has been a top knock from Shah. Both Shah and Ali Khil are targeting spinner Fabian Allen: the duo has collected 18 off his two overs so far. Afghanistan has gone past the 100-run mark. AFG 101/1 after 20 overs
Rahmat Shah is a delight to watch when he bats like this. Oshane Thomas is bearing the brunt of Roach's willow. A pacy short ball is pulled away for four before carving an overpitched ball for four more. Ali Khil at the other end is holding fort. The two have added 50. AFG 65/1 after 13 overs.
Roach to continue. A brace to end the over. Three from it. Ali Khil and Rahmat have stitched together a solid stand. The latter has moved to 15 with three boundaries while Ali Khil gave a glimpse of his talent with an audacious pull shot off Roach. AFG 44/1 at the end of the Powerplay. The partnership is now 39 off 51 balls.
End of the fifth over. Ali Khil glances one past short fine leg for four. A rare loose ball from Cottrell the youngster makes the most of it. Two dots to wrap up Cottrell's third. AFG 16/1 after 5 overs.
Cottrell continues. Good line from Sheldon. Attacking the stumps at good pace. Just three singles from it. Roach into his second over. A maiden. AFG 11/1 after 4 overs.
Kemar Roach from the other end. Two slips for Roach. SHOT! Roach drops one short and Naib pulls it away for his first boundary. GONE! Roach has his revenge very next ball: Naib hits this one straight to the fielder. Ikram Ali Khil comes to the crease. AFG 8/1 after 2 overs .
Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah to begin the run chase. Sheldon Cottrell with the new ball. Slip in place for Naib. The skipper gets off the mark with a single. Good start - just one run from it. AFG 1/0 after 1 over.
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Windies score 81 runs from the last six overs. A very difficult chase on the cards for Afghanistan to pull off a first win of the tournament. We will be back for the chase in 30 minutes.
Brathwait comes in and smacks a six over long-off! 300 up for the Windies! A leading edge then takes the ball to the third man region for a four. Excellent last 10 overs this is turning out to be for the Windies. And a four to finish the innings. A rather comedic end that. Brathwaite hits it high into the skies of Headingley but Gulbadin at long-off pulls out of the catch after getting sun in his eyes. The crowd enjoys it but Gulbadin looks bemused.
WICKET! Pooran is run-out at the non-striker's end after a mix up. Holder swings and misses but Pooran has scurried his way to the striker's end while Holder is oblivious to the run. WICKET! Holder holes out to deep square leg off the bowling of Shirzad.
WI 297/4 in 49 overs: Dawlat is taking a pounding here. Holder has been severe on him. He bowls a slower, short delivery to Pooran, who waits and clobbers him straight over his head for a six! Adding insult to injury he bowls five wides. 21 runs from the 49th over.
Pooran continuing on with his good form! Hits a 40-ball 50 but its Holder who is providing the fireworls! His sixes power Windies past 250.
98m monster hit from Holder! Mujeeb at the receiving end of it.
WI 212/4 in 42 overs: Wickets have not allowed Windies to push towards the 300-run mark. They would do well to get past 275 at the moment.
Two hundred up for the Windies in the 40th over.
Jason Holder is the new batsman.
WI 192/4 in 38 overs: Nabi gets smack through the mid-off region for two consecutive boundaries. WICKET! Hope looks to up the scoring rate but he holes out to the deep mid-wicket, where Rashid takes the catch.
Nicholas Pooran, century-maker against Sri Lanka, walks in at No. 5.
WI 178/3 in 35 overs: Dawlat is back and Hope welcomes him into the attack with with a straight hit down the ground for a six! WICKET! Hetmyer pulls a bouncer into the hands of the short mid-wicket fielder. Substitute Noor Ali Zadran takes a good, low catch.
Missed opportunity! Hetmyer goes for a wild hack over the leg side off Rashid and only manages to get a leading edge high into the air. Two fielders converge on the ball just outside the circle and they end up messing that up completely. Rashid looks unimpressed.
150 up for West Indies in the 31st over.
Hope after a string of single digit scores, hits some form here. Brings up his third fifty of the tournament.
WI 133/2 in 28 overs: Hetmyer is in with only one intention and that is to take on the Afghan bowlers. He is loving the slow pace of Nabi. Not much feet movement but he he puts in the big stride in and smacks him couple of times through the offside. 12 runs of the over.
Shimron Hetmyer in at No. 4. Hetmyer launches Nabi over long-off for a six off just his fourth ball!
WI 109/2 in 25 overs: Rashid Khan strikes! Lewis goes big on the back foot to a googly but doesn't connect well. Mohammed Nabi runs in from long-on to take a very good catch. Lewis fails to convert another start, departs for 58.
Lewis plays across the line on the sweep and Mujeeb hits him on the back-foot. Umpire Nigel Llong turns doen the appeals. Afghanistan calls for a DRS review . Ball tracker says the impact was umpire's call.
Hundred up for the West Indies in the 24th over.
Afghanistan requires a breakthrough and bring on Mujeeb back into the attack.
Lewis finally get to his fifty. He brings it up in 62 balls. The partnership between the pair now up to 65.
WI 82/1 in 19 overs: Just nine runs from the last 24 balls as Afghanistan put the squeeze on through spin. Lewis hasn't scored a run in 8 balls ans is stuck on 48 for the time being.
WI 65/1 in 14 overs: Lewis launches a crunching six over mid-wicket! Gulbadin bowls it short at a gentle click and Lewis pulls it on the front foot.
Strong winds blowing across the ground at the moment. Dawlat finishes the first powerplay with a maiden.
WI 43/1 in 9 overs: Lewis seems to be middling it after a sloe start. Sayed Shirzad, making his World Cup debut today, dig it in short and Lewis swivels to pull it over deep square-leg for a six!
DROPPED! Shai Hope glances Dawlat straight into the short deep-wicket region where Rashid Khan puts him down! Rashid can't believe he has dropped that, he is one of the finest fielders in the side. Dawlat has a smile on his face.
WI 25/1 in 6 overs: Shai Hope is in and he gets off the mark with a boundary.
WICKET!Dawlat Zadran gets Gayle! Not the box office end to his World Cup career he would have hoped for. Gayle seemed to be itching to play his shots against Dawlat. Dawlat beats his outside edge of the previous ball before bowling an invitational full delivery wide of off-stump. Gayle went for a wild swing, gets a thick outside edge and is caught behind. He departs for 8.
This game will also be Phil Simmons' final game in charge of Afghanistan. His contract comes to an end at the end of the World Cup.
WI 6/0 in 2 overs: Lewis gets off the mark with a clip down the leg side for a boundary.
Kings XI teammates to get us underway. Mujeeb to Gayle. Evin Lewis at the non-striker's end.
West Indies innings
The teams line up for the national anthems. We begin with West Indies' 'Rally round the West Indies'. 'Daa watan Afghanistan' follows.
Even though this is a dead rubber, there will be a lot riding on this contest for the players involved. Will this be Chris Gayle's final game in West Indies colours? His teammates are making a deal out of him in the team huddle before the game.
Gulbadin Naib: 'I would have wanted to bat first as well. It gets good for the spinners later on. We played really well in the last few games. We will try to play hard. We have two changes. Hamid Hassan and Shahidi are not playing. Dawlat Zadran and Shirzad are playing.'
Jason Holder: 'We are gonna bat first. Seems to be a pretty good wicket. It tends to slow down as the game goes on. Just look at this game and try to finish the competition well. We have one last oppurtunity and need to get a perfect game together. Two changes for us. Evin Lewis and Kemar Roach come in for and Sunil Ambris and Shannon Gabriel.'
TOSS UPDATE| Jason Holder has won the toss and West Indies will bat first.
West Indies (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib(c), Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shinwari, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Ali Khil(w), Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Sayed Shirzad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
PITCH REPORT| "When you see an English wicket look white, it's a suggestion that the surface is good for batting. There's not enough moisture in it although there are these odd cracks. If the bowlers land the ball on the seam, we could see some lateral movement. But definitely a bat first pitch," reckons Sanjay Manjrekar.
The Preview
Chris Gayle will be eyeing another record when West Indies and Afghanistan get the chance to exit the Cricket World Cup on a high note at Headingley on Thursday.
The Windies are guaranteed to finish second-bottom of the group above winless Afghanistan regardless of the result in Leeds.
Jason Holder's side started the tournament by hammering Pakistan but have not won since that seven-wicket success at Trent Bridge at the end of May.
West Indies' style is to be aggressive, says Jason Holder
Afghanistan have lost all eight matches and will be looking for only their second World Cup victory at the venue where they ran Pakistan close on Saturday.
Chris Gayle needs 18 runs to break Brian Lara's record for the most ODI runs scored by a West Indies player in what will be his final World Cup match - and possibly his last ODI.
The Windies have lost six consecutive matches and will be desperate to bring that run to an end in their first World Cup clash with Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan captain Naib calls for quality pacers
Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib admits his team would benefit from the emergence of a top-class pace bowler to supplement their quality spin attack.
Naib's side, who have lost all eight of their group-stage matches, will play their last game at this year's World Cup when they face West Indies in Leeds on Thursday.
Although Afghanistan spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman are potential match-winners, Naib knows the team needs a sharper pace attack to trouble the world's best teams.
“If you look over the last two or three years, we're just depending on spinners, especially when Mujeeb joined the team,” Naib said.
World Cup 2019: Nicholas Pooran wants to carve his own identity
“We have two spinners in Rashid and Mujeeb. We didn't find the fast bowlers' department. We all worked on the spinners, so that's why we have world-class spinners. This is a problem,” he said.
Naib has not given up hope on the talent scouts in his country. “If you find two, three, good fast bowlers, maybe it will be good for us here in the World Cup,” he said.
“Hopefully in the future we can find a good fast bowler. And I'm hoping I'll be working on it.”
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Holder promises West Indies will ‘look after’ century-maker Pooran
West Indies captain Jason Holder vowed to “look after” Nicholas Pooran after his maiden one-day international century so nearly led to a stunning World Cup win over Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka posted an imposing 338 for six, a total built on Avishka Fernando’s first hundred at this level, in a match between two sides whose hopes of qualifying for the semifinals had already evaporated before a ball was bowled at Chester-le-Street on Monday.
But Pooran, well supported by Fabian Allen (51), got the West Indies close to a target of 339 — which would have been a new World Cup record for a winning side batting second — before it lost by 23 runs.
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Tournament So Far
The men from the Caribbean looked the real deal when they thumped Pakistan in Nottingham, but their slight semi-final hopes were ended with a big defeat to India at Old Trafford last Thursday. Sri Lanka then consigned them to a 23-run loss on Monday despite a Nicholas Pooran century.
A lack of runs has cost Afghanistan, who were agonisingly close to defeating India at the Rose Bowl and threatened to upset Pakistan but were unable to finish off the job.
What they Said
West Indies Assistant coach Roddy Estwick: "Obviously we're not happy losing games. But we started to build something, and once we can remain patient, we can keep building. Young players are coming through, and once that keeps happening then things will get a lot better."
Afghanistan Captain Gulbadin Naib: "We played last four, five games quite well. I'm happy with the performance of the team. It's all depending on our batting strength: if you've not batted well, maybe it's difficult for bowlers to defend a small total.
Facts
- Afghanistan have won three of their previous four completed ODIs against West Indies, including two World Cup qualifiers in Harare last year.
- West Indies have played five ODIs at Headingley, losing three and winning two of those matches.
- Gayle is set to play his 295th ODI, equalling Brian Lara for joint-most caps in the history of the format for the Windies.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar 's LIVE coverage of ICC World Cup 2019, Match 42 between Afghanistan and West Indies.
The match will be streamed Live on Hotstar
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